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Callum Horncastle
The main protagonist of The Titan's Orb, the entire story is written from his perspective, (bar Prologues & Epilogues) Description Physical A broad shouldered teenage boy, with brown hair, olive skin, and forest green eyes. Long-legged, athletically fit, and well toned, his physique is all-rounded with unlimited potential. Biographical Adventurous and full of heart, Callum Tobias Horncastle was the human whom Princess Celestia had chosen to guide the Mane Six across Earth, and was selected to keep them safe and achieve their goal. Selfless, good-willed, and bound by honour, he tries to do the right thing by everyone, and will do anything for those he cares about, even if it puts his own life at risk. A comical character at heart, Callum makes jokes during tense situations in attempt to lighten moods, although his humour is often dark, due to suffering from severe depression. Backstory Diagnosed with Clinical Depression from a young age, Callum grew up as a very troubled child, never content with himself and always questioning his existence and purpose. Although his depression would later come to his advantage, when he found it gave him immunity to the Fel. Suffering constant bullying from his (secretly false) mother, and later his brother, he became a doormat to the family, and lived each day searching for a solid reason to either end his life, or to carry on, whichever came first. After his father left the family, the bullying worsened, his abuse became physical as well as verbal; his brother also began to torment him to establish dominance, eager to become the new man of the house. Callum later attempted suicide via an overdose, but he was resuscitated at a hospital. Little did he know that his near-death experience had drawn additional mana to his soul, strengthening it. Picking up boxing to help vent his internal torment, he grew very athletic and mastered basic hand-to-hand combat as his physical prowess grew, later becoming the local champion at the Crawley Boxing Club. Alongside this, he discovered My Little Pony and strove to live by the show's morals, making love and tolerance his main attributes. He later joined the Brony community, making friends online. Unbeknown to anyone, Callum was being monitored by Princess Celestia, who had detected the abnormal strength of his soul, and considered him as a worthy to guide the ponies. Although, she also feared such potential in a single soul, and would later advise Twilight to be cautious of the human, not wanting him to come to Equestria, or any human for that matter. Observing his behaviour, mentality, and emotional status, she found his personality was most akin to Twilight's, and was confident in deciding he wouldn't give up on her, despite any circumstance. Meeting the Mane Six for the First Time After finishing secondary school, Callum started up a YouTube channel in attempt to gain a following and potentially start earning money through comedy and gaming videos; his depression fuelled his dark humour which assisted in building a reputation. His ambition was thwarted however on a fateful night, when putting the family's chickens to bed, he heard familiar voices nearby, upon investigating, he was shocked to find none-other than the Mane Six camped behind his shed. His mentality was very adaptive, and it didn't take long before Callum normalised the existence of the ponies, and was quick to process their reasons for being on Earth. Desperate to escape his home life he instantly accepted their request. This was the reason he had been looking for, this was his purpose. Letting them into his house the next day, he wanted to befriend them as soon as possible, knowing he would spend forever and a day with them. He was given a forthwith warning by Twilight, to which he was rather shocked by, but remained understanding. After preparing food for them, he properly heard their situation; at the time of this explanation, he was stunned by the revelation that the My Little Dashie Crisis had in fact occurred. Aware their memories had been wiped on purpose, he chose not to explain his knowing of the event, but kept note of the time difference between the dimensions. With the spare time he now knew was available, he bonded with the ponies over small talk, learning about one another's culture, he went to the extent of showing them an animated film to entertain them, alongside introducing them the abilities of human technology. After this, Callum was taken aside by Twilight and received a small insight to what was going on for her, she told him of her fear and he attempted to comfort her, which to no avail, caused an angry and loud response. With his care rejected, he knew Twilight would be a very different ball-game compared to the others. Joining a game of hide & seek to lighten the mood, he was swiftly found by Fluttershy, and they bonded a little more. When the others arrived, he couldn't help but show off and jump from the top of the tree, breaking his fall with a well-timed roll and impressing the group with his athletic prowess. Shortly after this, Callum was taken aback by witnessing an argument between Rainbow Dash and Twilight, the seemingly happy group revealed to have some very high tension, to which Callum wanted to accommodate and defuse to the best of his ability. Breaking up the row and asserting his dominance as the group's newly titled guide, he attempted to get to the bottom of what was going on. Sadly, not even the others knew the reasons behind Twilight's behaviour, it remained a mystery to be solved. Changing as an Individual Over the course of The Titan's Orb, Callum's personality evolves as his character undergoes a series of events and challenges. Upon meeting the ponies, his cynical outlook on life grew warmer, he began seeing beauty in scenes and experiences again, being with the ponies also helped him greatly with accepting who he was and that he didn't have to be controlled by his depression anymore. That said, his relationship with Twilight caused his self esteem and self confidence to significantly drop, as she used him as a verbal punching bag and made his life as difficult as possible. The contrast became more and more unstable as he felt more free within himself, yet more imprisoned than ever during Twilight's outbursts and negative comments. This contrast would not cease until long after his relationship with Twilight had been amended... Callum's more serious changes of mentality mostly began when killing his own clone. Plunging a knife into the flesh of another human was no easy task, and it left Callum traumatised. Being the person he was, he quickly forced the experience deep into his mind, wanting to forget it. This would not last forever, not with the path that lay ahead of him; upon reaching Brazil, he was forced to kill once more; a man had spotted the ponies upon a bridge, and Callum had no choice but to injure him and throw him from the bridge into the watery depths below. Furthering Callum's shock, a lot of confusion and fear began to brew within him; his anger had always been internalised, only ever vented by boxing, which was done in a controlled environment, but here, Callum's actions had consequences, he would be forced to live with the fact he was a murderer. When he was later captured and tortured by Ingeo, Callum underwent a very drastic change in terms of his pain threshold, along with his entire mental concept of pain. The extent of the torture left him with a pain threshold increasing to the point where standard injuries, (punches, kicks, minor cuts, etc) were no longer interpreted as painful, he was merely irked by their inconvenience. He could endure even the more serious injuries which surpassed his pain threshold and caused genuine harm; this is seen in many occasions over the course of the story, notoriously during his encounters with Nah'Lek in the Dead Forest; Callum continued to press onward even after having his arm mutilated and snapped at the elbow. To put it simply, Callum grew accustomed to pain, both physically and emotionally. Bonding With the Ponies Individually One advantage of Callum's adaptive and varied personality, was that he could comfortably bond with each of the ponies on an distinct level, rather than just befriending them as a group. Rarity Proud of his Britishness, Callum found it very easy to talk to Rarity, enjoying the more upper class discussions and behaviours; he found her very easy to talk to, thanks to their shared well-spoken. Also vaguely fond of fashion, Callum wasn't bored by Rarity's enthusiasm for the subject, and often enjoyed hearing her take on the outfits he wore, along with the main fashion trends of human pop-culture. Their relationship was smooth from the start, and has never seen much of a falter, she's only been uncomfortable on the odd occasion when Callum shared more uncouth behaviour with Rainbow Dash. Callum viewed Rarity like the group's mother-like figure, and in turn, grew a very protective loyalty towards her, so when she was mauled by a bear in the chapter "A Grizzly Situation", he was swift to track down the bear. While the objective was to retrieve the bag it had stolen, it was very evident that he also wanted to kill it in an act of revenge for injuring Rarity. Rainbow Dash As stated above, Callum enjoyed the more informal side of things with Rainbow Dash, making their relationship as easy-going as his one with Rarity. While a gentleman, Callum was still a boy at heard, and occasionally found himself participating in crude jokes with Rainbow, whether they were sexual innuendos, or childish toilet humour. Although, during more serious situations that required strategic and mature thinking, Callum would be the first to scold her when the jokes continued; he knew there was a time and a place to immaturity, and wouldn't join in on the jokes when such times and places arrived. Later on in the story, Callum is informed of Rainbow Dash's affections for him, bringing an entirely new element to the story; his moral perceptions of the ponies, and were they to be considered equal to humans? In the chapter "Blood is Thinner With Alcohol", Callum unknowingly sleeps with Rainbow Dash while blind drunk, bringing a climax to the controversy, this eventually brings Callum to the conclusion that human culture is the issue, and that the ponies are equal to humans. Regardless, he makes it clear that he isn't interested in a committed relationship with her, and they remain close friends. Fluttershy Sharing a mutual love for animals and nature, Callum and Fluttershy hit it off from day one, understanding anxiety and mental health, Callum was very much able to sympathise with Fluttershy's natural nervousness, and always tried to remain accommodating and calming for her. Their bonding often happened when taking private walks away from the group, looking for a calmer environment, usually finding streams or clearings to relax in. One of Callum's biggest worries upon first meeting the ponies, was how they'd react to his diet, and Fluttershy was his biggest concern; how would she react to him being a meat eater? As it happens, she knew from their first day together, noting his canine teeth, and acknowledging he was an omnivore. She wasn't bothered in the slightest, knowing different species have different dietary needs; and only requested the animals he consumed feel little or no pain, to which he agreed wholeheartedly. Twilight Sparkle Callum and Twilight. Such a relationship was a complex and vicious one, led by fear and confusion. When Callum first met Twilight, it was clear to him that something was amiss, and he was hellbent on finding out what it was, but when not even Twilight knew herself, it was going to be a challenge. Having been used to verbal and physical abuse from his own family, Callum often let things slide when Twilight's cruelty was unleashed upon him. He would endure, and hope to discover the reasons for her torment each each outburst. As previously stated in "Changing as an Individual", however, Twilight's punishing behaviour caused his mental health to drop significantly, worsening his depression and making his tasks drastically harder. Still unaware of the Fel's corruption, he believed Twilight to be merely unstable in mind. His understanding and accommodation for this would be pushed to the very limits after she sent him to the other side of Portugal, hoping he'd die on his own; he knew her behaviour needed to be put to an end, one way or another. The pinnacle of this vicious dispute, was when Twilight left Bunnie to die, upon discovering it was the unicorn's intention, Callum flew into a frenzied rage; chasing Twilight outside to the nearby cliff, where their showdown begun. They didn't hesitate to fight brutally and without a shred of remorse, prepared to kill if the other refused to yield, Twilight's spells caused the unstable cliff to collapse, and the fight ended with Callum falling to his supposed death; as he fell, he noticed Twilight's eye glowing green. He realised that the Fel had possessed her. This shocking revelation quite instantly dispelled Callum's hatred for her, for he finally understood why she'd treated him the way she had, it hadn't been her fault, she was a slave to the demonic magic. Surviving the fall with Hawnu Rey'eng's assistance, he was informed that the Frozen Forest was in fact Twilight's brain, manifested as the woodland dreamscape, after being taught how to cure her, he delved deep into her mind and saved her from Nah'Lek's torturous clutches. After curing her, Twilight's fragile and unstable mental health led her to attempt suicide, riddled with guilt of what she'd done; Callum saved her life and came to yet another resolution, Twilight was just like him. They were equals in mind and soul, and Callum vowed to protect and care for her as she slowly recovered, they made amends and became close, their relationship reinforced by the history they share. Applejack Callum's relationship with AJ began with a wobble, as the Southerner kept trust in Twilight, regardless of the unexplained behaviour; when Twilight showed constant mistrust of the human, Applejack had a hunch that the unicorn was onto something. It took a while for Callum to prove her wrong, and her mind was officially changed in Brazil when Twilight allowed Callum's clone to feel pain when being used as bait for crocodiles. When the mutual trust settled in, Callum and Applejack had a very mother-son relationship, this was due to her natural motherly persona since standing in as a mother for her younger sister. After Callum fell into despair at the death of Bunnie, Applejack felt more connected to him than she had to any of her other friends, for she knew exactly how he felt; she went on to explain to him how her parents had perished in a fire, and that she truly understood his anguish. Since then, Callum and Applejack have established a strong relationship, based on trust and empathy. Callum would often turn to AJ for advice and support on matters he couldn't open up about to the rest of the group. Pinkie Pie Being a depressed comedian, Callum saw the true value in entertaining others and making them smile, this value was reflected in Pinkie, who maintained the group's morale and spirit relentlessly. They both shared the quality of borderline-chaotic randomness, making jokes and pulling spontaneous pranks on one another and members of the group, Callum respected Pinkie and her unwavering bravery in such a hostile world; how she remained joyful and enthusiastic after all they endured was beyond him. As much as Callum cared for Pinkie, he felt it wrong to have her part of such a perilous mission, her hyperactive innocence was dangerous for both herself and for those around her. Callum viewed Celestia's choice to include her on the mission as a terrible, and ill-thought action. Regardless, Callum was glad for her good company, and perceived her as the glue that kept the group together throughout all and any circumstances. Romance and Tragedy A romantic at heart, Callum was very quick to fall for Bunnie when meeting her, so deeply that he risked his life to divert from his main objective and rescue her from the clutches of her vile father. He went to the extent of infiltrating her father's gang and carrying out tasks to secure the gang's hold over Portugal, killing countless people and even drinking a pint of fresh blood to pass an initiation. Thankfully, the love was reciprocated, and Bunnie became heavily attached to Callum, in her eyes, he was her absolution and resolve to the torment she'd suffered from her father; he was her saviour. The following weeks they shared together were mostly spent making love whenever they had a moment alone, which neither of them had previously done; taking one another's virginity indefinitely added to the intensity of their relationship. In most circumstances, their coupling would have been judged for its quickness, it was indeed very forward and there was no friendship foundation, so for such a deep and passionate relationship to form at such a fast pace could easily be deemed unhealthy. But for the situation they both found themselves in, a "normal" relationship was out of the question. When Hoyt arrived and laid waste to Paulo and his organisation, Callum was willingly prepared to give his life for Bunnie, which almost occurred as he sustained a gunshot to the chest, his upgraded phone only just stopping the bullet. Believing Callum to be dead, Hoyt set the timer for the compound's destruction and left in a helicopter; a pained Callum frantically searched for the key to Bunnie's cage, desperate to save her. When Twilight arrived and teleported him out of the compound, he watched in absolute horror as the timer went off and napalm engulfed the building, killing Bunnie instantly; in a hopeless attempt to rescue her, Callum attempted to enter the building, receiving borderline third-degree burns. Callum's devotion showed for itself, and while his task failed in delivering Bunnie to safety, the effort he put into rescuing her was the exact quality Celestia had chosen him, she knew he would do anything to ensure the group's success, even if it cost him his life... Connection to the Shards Since touching the Orb shard for the first time in Brazil, Callum was permanently woven into the fate of Equus and its inhabitants; sensing the greatness of his soul, Stardust Moonshimmer deemed him worthy as his successor, and guided him towards Vitra 'Aku to achieve direct approval from the Titans. With each new shard Callum collects, an event is triggered. * Shard One - Stardust Moonshimmer's soul enters Callum's mind, they communicate via thought. * Shard Two - The high Fel content on the shard temporarily enhances him, granting him faster reflexes and physical strength, allowing him to kill a Deathclaw in melee combat. His depression eventually causes the Fel to die out and he returns to his normal state. * Shard Three - Callum's mind is taken to Celestia's Vision, where he learns of what Celestia told Twilight, and the fate of Equus if Callum came back to Equestria. * Shard Four - ??? * Shard Five - ??? * Shard Six - ??? To close, Callum is more than just a basic hero, his mental health and suicidal tendencies reveal him to be a layered character with serious internal conflicts, his outbursts of anger and violence which seem out of character are results of his struggle within himself. His devotion to his goals cause him to often make the wrong choices, for the right reasons.